


Don't Give Up On Me

by sassysatsuma



Series: Glocktober2018 [1]
Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fill, basically two people who really love each other, dancing around their feelings because they're idiots, glocktober, glocktober2018fyco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 09:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16156685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassysatsuma/pseuds/sassysatsuma
Summary: Friendship has always been foreign territory for Riley. A place where vulnerability threatens to shred anyway the mask he’s fought so hard to preserve and where his rib cage bares his heart to every kind of hurt. He’s still human, as much as he pretends otherwise. Friendships might not come naturally to him, especially now, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t capable of them. Hell, maybe deep down there’s some terrifying part of him that actively still chases them, still looks for the warmth of human interaction when his soul had promised to swear that off so long ago.He knows what friendship is. Just as he knows that this isn’t it.// For Day One of Glocktober2018 hosted by FYCO on tumblr.//





	Don't Give Up On Me

Friendship has always been foreign territory for Riley. A place where vulnerability threatens to shred anyway the mask he’s fought so hard to preserve and where his rib cage bares his heart to every kind of hurt. He’s still human, as much as he pretends otherwise. Friendships might not come naturally to him, especially now, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t capable of them. Hell, maybe deep down there’s some terrifying part of him that actively still chases them, still looks for the warmth of human interaction when his soul had promised to swear that off so long ago.

He knows what friendship is. Just as he knows that this _ **isn’t**_  it.

It’s an innocent gesture, the brush of fingertips against the bare skin of his neck as she straightens his collar. It should barely even register in his mind, an idle accident that means so little. And yet the mere touch of her skin sends his heart racing, his pulse thundering in ways that speak of everything  _but_  friendship.

Lara McCoy broke his heart in a way that he doubted anyone still could. She charged headfirst into his life, broke down all of his carefully constructed walls, got under his skin to a point where he came to rely on her as though she’d always been there. And then with one poorly worded argument, everything ended within the blink of an eye.

He should have hated her. Wanted to for a long time. But once all of his anger and bitterness faded, he was left with the stark reality that despite all their harsh words, everything that had attracted him to Lara was still there. Her strength, her humour, her bravery. The ridiculous way she laughed and the even more ridiculous notion that he still got a kick out of making her do it.

They fell back into being friends because what divided them simply wasn’t enough to keep them apart.

“Do you actually own something that  _ **isn’t**_  black?” Lara’s teasing voice snaps Riley back out of his thoughts and he falters, pulling away from her meddling touch as if it’s the most irritating thing in the world. Lara barely even flinches, knows him too well for that as she raises an eyebrow at his display. “Dark and brooding isn’t the only way to a girl’s heart, you know.”

“Says you.” Riley snickers in return, all brash arrogance because that’s what he does best. “If it ain’t broke then why fix it?”

“To break up the monotony of existence perhaps?” She laughs again, swatting at his bicep in mock irritation. “ _Jesus_ , Riley, I hope you’re saving all of your good lines for this date.”

The date. Even the word sounds off when she speaks it back to him, the smile on her lips just that little bit too wide. He had never really intended to tell her, didn’t really make a habit of telling anyone his movements when he wasn’t needed on base. But when she walked in on him ironing a shirt, Riley had known there was little point in attempting to lie to her.

She’d see right through him, just like always.

The date was some bird he’d met a few nights before in the local pub, an attractive blonde with a pert arse and decent banter. In reality, he’d put the moves on her in an attempt to try and get her to take him home, but she’d made it abundantly clear that that wasn’t on the cards and he wasn’t a bloke to push. Instead, he’d hung around because she was confident and funny, content to do most of the talking and not direct too many uncomfortable questions his way. When she’d slid her number across the table on a napkin, he’d figured that a date couldn’t hurt and had told her that he’d call.

Three days later and the most significant ex he’s had in years is doing a shit impression of a woman who couldn’t care less. That whole ’ _seeing right through bullshit_ ’ thing works both ways it seems.

“Feeling threatened, Bones?” His smile is all teeth, the comment cocky because he knows that’ll be what she expects from him right now. “She’s better looking than you, y'know.”

“Oh I don’t doubt it. But it’s all self serving I promise. If my LT gets laid then maybe I don’t have to run quite so many drills in the morning.”

She doesn’t even blink at his deliberate barb and that’s just exactly what he loves about her.

_**Shit.** _

“There’s other ways to keep your LT happy. Find a way to keep Meat from whining and you can skip drills for a month.”

“Seriously? If you give me that in writing then maybe there’s something I can do…”

“Nice try, Bones.” He laughs, the sound low and genuine in his throat. Nothing truly compares to when they’re like this, spouting quick fire comments and smiling. It fucking beats  _everything_ , even the sex and it’s that thought alone that stops Riley in his tracks. It flies in the face of everything he’s convinced himself that he is, gives him an almost uncomfortable awareness that no matter how funny and charming his date is, she’ll never be as good as what he has standing in front of him right now.

He and Bones had been more than fuck buddies who caught feelings, but it had always been easier to pretend all that away and stick to what they knew, the sex and the banter that had so quickly come to define them. Hell, the night they had actually admitted it all had been the day when everything had fallen apart, the day they ran away from each other because it was fucking easier than admitting that they were wrong.

It was his fault just as much as it was hers. But he loves her still, regardless.

“I’d better leave you to it, eh?” The way she worries her lip tells him that she knows something is up and in true McCoy fashion she figures that she’s to blame. She leans back away from him, all ready to turn on her heel and leave him to his evening.

Riley knows that he should probably let her.

“You really want me to go on this date, huh?” The words slip past his lips before he’s fully prepared to deal with the consequences.

“ _Absolutely_. R &R is essential, take it from your doctor.”

“This isn’t just R&R, though, is it?” He steps after her, committed now for better or for worse. “And it sure as hell doesn’t have anything to do with you being my doctor either.”

“Maybe not… But it’s healthy. You and-” She pauses, her previous confidence lost as she licks at her lips. “…You and someone else.”

They’re far too close by the time Riley notices.

Instead, his hand curls around her neck slowly, fingers slipping upwards into her hair as he cups the back of her head. She lets him, dumbstruck eyes fixed on his, full of questions but no defiance. He’s lost the moment he sees her lips part ever so slightly, pressing his mouth against hers in a kiss that is equal parts as tender and as alien as any they’ve shared before.

It’s over before it really begins, fleeting just as her fingertips had been against his skin only minutes before. They step away from each other out of necessity, the distance between them giving them both the space to breathe and think in equal measure. Lara hesitates and her eyes drop down to her shoes for a moment before they’re back on his, a bright blue gaze that speaks of the sin she thinks she’s committed.

“I can’t hurt you again.”

“You won’t.”

“I might.” She shakes her head, and a sad laugh tumbles from her mouth. “You should still go. To you date I mean.”

“Is that what you want?”

“ _No_.” Her answer is flat, truthful and all the answer that he really needs. “But you should.”

She leaves in that same flurry that she arrived, the sound of the door falling shut behind her throwing his world back into silence. With a glance at his watch, Riley shrugs, reaching up to unbutton his shirt. As it falls open he reaches for his phone, quickly typing out an apology to his date and hits send. He’s a lot of things, but a coward isn’t one of them and he sure as shit isn’t letting his date become just another person to get stood up on a Friday night.

His and Lara’s rekindled friendship wasn’t all pretence and lies, but the veil they’d pulled over their real motivations for wanting to stay close is already in tatters. As Riley flops down onto his bed, he wonders whether Lara is being hit by the exact same notion. He already knows that she’ll feel guilty, just as he knows that somehow he’s going to have to find a way to fix that.

He never gave up on her, just like she never gave up on him.

Maybe that’s all that matters. 


End file.
